The boss of WhatsApp has criticized a proposed UK law that may make end-to-end encryption illegal, which could result in the app being banned in the country.

The Online Safety Bill requires tech companies to remove illegal content distributed through their platforms, potentially including end-to-end encryption, a security feature that protects messages from being intercepted.

Several messaging services, including WhatsApp, Signal, Viber, and Element, have signed an open letter opposing the bill, which is expected to be given its final reading in the House of Lords soon.

The letter argues that encryption is essential for protecting billions of users' privacy and security against fraud, scams, and data theft, and that weakened security measures cannot be imposed by the UK government on global apps. The proposed legislation has been described as the most concerning in the western world by Will Cathcart, Meta's head of WhatsApp. Photo by 1pratikyadav, Wikimedia commons.